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Bruins look to stay hot against rival Canadiens

Nov 13, 2008 - 11:28 AM Montreal (9-2-2) at Boston (9-3-3) 7:00 p.m. EST

BOSTON (Ticker) -- The Boston Bruins are perhaps the hottest team in the NHL. If the Bruins plan on staying atop the Northeast Division, however, they will have to take down their archrival.

The Bruins face a huge test on Thursday when they put their four-game winning streak on the line against the Montreal Canadiens.

P.J. Axelsson scored the decisive goal in the third round of the shootout, lifting Boston to a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday. Marco Sturm scored a power-play goal in regulation and Tim Thomas made 31 saves for the Bruins, who improved to 7-1-0 over their last eight games and halted a seven-game slide in shootouts.

However, if Boston, which is tied with the Buffalo Sabres for the top spot in the Northeast with 21 points, wants to stay in first place, it will have to end a 12-game regular season losing streak to the Canadiens. The Bruins pushed Montreal to seven games during last season's Eastern Conference quarterfinals but have not earned a win against their rivals outside the playoffs since March 3, 2007.

Thomas has won five of his last six starts, but may not be in goal because he has lost his last eight outings to Montreal, falling to 4-12-2 with a 3.22 goals-against average lifetime. He made 25 saves on October 25, but surrendered the lone goal in the shootout as the Bruins dropped a 4-3 decision to the Canadiens in their first meeting this season.

Montreal bounced back from a shootout and regulation loss with a 4-0 rout of the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday in its most recent game. Christopher Higgins registered his first career hat trick and Carey Price stopped 28 shots for his first shutout of the season and the fourth of his career.